Dispatch All-Metro softball team: Cooper has passion for the game

Sunday

Jun 9, 2013 at 12:01 AMJun 9, 2013 at 10:40 AM

Mikayla Cooper fondly recalls her indoctrination to the game of softball. "When I was 7 years old, I tagged along with my sister, Tessa, to her tryout for the Westerville Ice," Cooper said. "I was in the outfield shagging balls for all these girls 16 and 17 and someone came up and said, 'You made the team.'

Steve Blackledge, The Columbus Dispatch

Mikayla Cooper fondly recalls her indoctrination to the game of softball.

“When I was 7 years old, I tagged along with my sister, Tessa, to her tryout for the Westerville Ice,” Cooper said. “I was in the outfield shagging balls for all these girls 16 and 17 and someone came up and said, ‘You made the team.’ Before I could explain that I wasn’t trying out, the next thing I knew I was on the U-10 team. Everything just escalated from there.”

Now a junior standout for Delaware, Cooper was chosen player of the year on the Dispatch All-Metro team. Because of her versatility as a shortstop and part-time pitcher, Cooper was named to designated player/utility spot on the team, which is selected based on recommendations by a panel of area coaches. Schools in Franklin and its six contiguous counties are eligible.

Rae Stuart, who guided Granville to its first state tournament appearance in her first season, was chosen coach of the year.

Cooper earned first-team all-Ohio honors after a stellar season in which she helped Delaware (24-4) to a No. 1 seed and a district championship game. She batted .522 with 11 home runs, 49 RBI and 42 runs. Her slugging percentage was 1.044. She committed just one error in 75 chances. She also went 8-2 as a pitcher.

It marks the third straight season Cooper has made first-team all-district.

From her early days on the Westerville Ice to the Buckeye Heat and now the U-18 Ohio Nightmare, softball has been a year-round passion.

“I gave up volleyball several years ago so I could commit myself entirely to softball,” she said. “When the high-school season ends, travel ball starts and we practice 21/2 or three hours a day four days a week on non-game days. We do agility drills, lifting and every kind of training imaginable. I love it. I’m committed to getting better in all phases of my game.”

Already, Cooper has committed to play at Ohio University. She plans to play shortstop full time there.

“I don’t mind pitching if that’s what the team needs me to do, but I love shortstop the most,” she said. “I’m a take-charge kind of person, and that position suits me best.”

Stuart, a former Newark Catholic and Capital player, had prior coaching experience with Ohio State-Newark (eight seasons), the Ohio Stingrays (four seasons) and Heath (one season), but this is her first stint as a head coach in high school.

She guided Granville (24-6) to its second Division II district title, then its first regional crown. The Blue Aces entered the state tournament on a 17-game win streak.

“I wanted to start a new career path, and when I saw the Granville job was open I went for it,” Stuart said. “I told the girls from the beginning that I saw a lot of potential and I made some kind of statement that I thought we could make the state. Looking back, I think I put too much pressure on the kids saying that. I toned things down and the game just starting coming to them."